Rep. Charles Hatcher of Georgia became the 16th House member to lose his seat in the 1992 primaries, falling victim to two of the year's dominant political trends - gains by minorities and voter rage against incumbents.
Rep. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, the only American Indian in Congress, found a more graceful way to leave the House, winning Colorado's Democratic U.S. Senate nomination Tuesday over two powerful foes - former Gov. Richard Lamm and former Senate candidate Josie Heath.In the only other U.S. Senate race Tuesday, former Peace Corps director Paul Coverdell held a slender lead against former U.S. Attorney Bob Barr in a too-close-to-call Republican runoff in Georgia.
Hatcher, one of the most flagrant of the congressional bad-check writers with 819 overdrafts, lost a Democratic runoff to Sanford Bishop, a black state senator running in a district redrawn to give it a black majority.
"The people were hungry, thirsty for a change, and I think we offered it," Bishop said.
Hatcher, who had been seeking a seventh term, said he didn't know why he lost, but he wouldn't attribute it to his bad checks at the House bank.
The congressman, who is white, attached more significance to the redistricting of his southwestern Georgia district. Similar mapping changes have given blacks victories in several Southern states.
"I guess I didn't run very well in the new areas with black voters," Hatcher said. "I ran better with black voters down here where they knew me."
Bishop will face Jim Dudley, a surgeon who defeated businessman Thomas McGinley in a GOP runoff.
Hatcher's defeat makes the 1992 primary season the second worst in modern times for House incumbents. Only 1946 was tougher: Eighteen lost that year, a record that could easily be surpassed by the time primaries scheduled in about 20 more states are held.
In Colorado, Campbell sent Lamm to his first political defeat. With 97 percent of the precincts reporting, Campbell had 115,667 votes, or 46 percent, to Lamm's 90,861 votes, or 36 percent. Heath had 46,186 votes, or 18 percent.
The three Democrats were competing to take the baton from Sen. Tim Wirth, a Democrat who decided not to seek a second term.
If Campbell defeats state Sen. Terry Considine in November, he will become the fourth American Indian to serve in the Senate, and the first since 1929.